Hospitals Battle Drug Problem—with Employees
According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 30,000 people were potentially exposed to hepatitis C over the last 10 years while patients in hospitals across the United States. The source? Hospital employees who steal narcotics intended for patients. Here’s how it works.
Because of the demand for hospital workers, most are hired without any type of drug screening. Many, because of their positions as nurses, doctors or technicians, have easy access to a wide range of controlled substances. In many instances, a medical worker with an addiction will monitor all the medications being prepared for patients, finding the one that gives them the fix they want or need.
Most medications typically take the form of an injection or a patch. With an injection, addicted health care workers typically wait until no one is looking, then give themselves the injection and replace the clear drug with some type of placebo—typically a saline solution. With a patch, the addict customarily goes to a secluded area of the hospital, sucks out the drug, and then puts the patch back.
If the employee has hepatitis C or some other communicable disease, it can easily be passed through the needle. In addition to the risk of the spread of disease, CDC authorities say the epidemic has left many patients suffering needless pain because their prescription painkillers have been replaced with placebos.
According to the report, the problem is extensive and nationwide. One program in Tennessee catches three to four employees every month. At a hospital in Michigan, a doctor and a nurse overdosed on the same day, both from injectable drugs they had stolen. New Jersey medical malpractice lawyers can help if that ever happens to you.
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For a free initial consultation, contact us by e-mail or call the Law Office of Neal S. Axe, LLC, at 215-784-1666 in Pennsylvania or at 856-795-8788 or 609-695-0220 for New Jersey medical malpractice lawyers. We can meet with you any time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are unable to come to our office, we will visit you in your home, the hospital or a nursing home facility.
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